Movin' West: The Hard Life of Pioneers

Teaching American History Project Lesson
Cheryl Tyree

Movin’ West: The Hard Life of Pioneers

Cheryl Tyree
3rd Grade
Grace Warner Elementary

Portfolio Cover Sheet

Author: Cheryl Tyree
Movin’ West: The Hard Life of Pioneers
Westward Movement: 1800-1860

Nevada State Content Standards

Nevada Social Studies Standards-History: 2.3.1 Ask history-related questions

Nevada Social Studies Standards-History: 5.3.6 Identify Native North American life prior to European contact such as: food, clothing, shelter

Nevada Social Studies Standards-History: 6.3.17 Describe the life of pioneers

Nevada Social Studies Standards-Geography: 2.3.2 Identify how language, music, stories, art, and customs express culture.

Nevada Social Studies Standards-Geography: 2.3.5 Identify a historical landmark and describe the events that took place there

Nevada Social Studies Standards-Geography: 5.3.6 Describe the way humans depend on natural resources

Nevada Social Studies Standards-Geography: 6.3.1 Use visual clues to determine when and where an event took place in the past

English Language Arts 1.3.4: Build Vocabulary using pictures and symbols

Background:
The historical context of my portfolio is 1800-1860s when many people were heading west for a better life. Because of Manifest Destiny, American Settlers were encouraged to take over Indian lands in the great plains and west. Pioneers like the Donner Party were promised many acres of land in California if they were able to get past the Pacific Crest. Unfortunately half of the Donner Party perished and had to resort to cannibalism for their own survival because of an early snowstorm and bad luck.

Many of the pioneers were luckier in their quest westward. Early explorers like John Fremont and Lewis and Clark scoped out the trails for the wagon trains. The emigrants who traveled west encountered Native Americans such as the Paiute tribe around the Pyramid Lake area. Chief Truckee and his granddaughter Sarah Winnemucca helped some of the early explorers with their travels west.

Portfolio Table of Contents

Activities and Learning Goals:

Activity 1: Primary Source: Interactive Writing
Learning Goal: In groups of 5, students will combine background knowledge, creativity, and writing skills to invent stories regarding historical pictures of Paiute Indians and children who were moving west.

Activity 2: Wordle: not required

Activity 3: Literature Connection: The Wild West
Learning Goal: The students will work in groups of 4 to complete a jigsaw cooperative learning activity to summarize a chapter of the book The Wild West. Then, the students will share the information with the class with a presentation summarizing what they learned about life on the wagon trains and moving west.

Activity 4: Foldable: Emigrant Travel West 1840-1860
Learning Goal: The students will create a foldable representing the Emigrant travel before and after the Gold Rush. The students will then write a short story explaining why there was such a huge jump of emigrants and what it might have been like to travel during that time.

Activity 5: Internet/Technology: The Donner Party
Learning Goal: The students will look at 10 internet sites which will include pictures of the Donner Party. The students will then brainstorm ideas of the significance of the pictures and how they are related to what we will be learning. The students will first brainstorm by themselves and then share their ideas with group members.

Activity 6: Art Piece/Writing: Paiute Basket
Learning Goal: The students will create a mosaic of a Paiute Indian basket. The students will receive a picture and then create a larger version of it with chalk on a black piece of paper. After we put the image together, the students will write about the uses of the basket and the material used to make it.

Activity 7: Student Project: Poster Project on Donner Party or Pioneers
Learning Goal: The student will choose a pioneer to do a poster assignment on. When the projects are completed, they will share the poster with their classmates.

Primary Source Activity: Interactive Writing

Student Learning Goal: In groups of 5, students will combine background knowledge, creativity, and writing skills to invent stories regarding historical pictures of Paiute Indians and children of who were moving west.

Primary Sources:

- Pictures from “Children of the Wild West” by Russell Freedman
- Pictures from Paiutes on ikeepbookmarks.com
- URLs:

Baskets:
http://www.moneymaker.com/nations/nevada/basket01.gif

Pretty Basket:
http://genequintana.com/images/catalog/large/lg_paiute_basket_cain_4.jpg

Sarah:
http://www.nativepeoples.com/content_images/2006images/0306sarah_w_2.jpg

Sarah Winnemucca:
http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/indianed/graphics/Leaders/SarahWinnamucca.jpg

Procedure:
I printed out the pictures and they are included in the portfolio. If I were doing this lesson I would go the extra step and laminate the pictures so they would last longer. I would teach the lesson as an introduction to the unit about pioneers moving west. First I would tell the students that there will be four different groups with five students in each group. They will need to bring their pencils for this writing activity, which would consist of me counting off 1-5. The student who is 1 will be in group 1; student 2 will be in group 2, etc.

I would then explain to the students that everyone will receive a picture attached to 2 pieces of binder paper. I will set the timer for 6 minutes. The students will look at the picture that they will be given and try to piece together an explanation and make up a story about the picture. When the timer goes off after 6 minutes, they will move their papers clockwise (I would model this) and the next person will pick up from where the last student left off in the story. Meanwhile, every 6 minutes the student will get a different picture and a different story to respond to. After the story has come back to the person who first wrote about the picture, the students will get their stories back and read how they ended.

I will have the students recopy their stories on a clean piece of paper and fix any spelling or grammar errors. I will give the students 45 minutes to finish this task. They can use their dictionaries for spelling and can get grammar help from their neighbors and the teacher. They can also change parts of the story to make transitions stronger and the organization better. I will evaluate students using an assessment rubric that I created.

Worksheet (Graphic Organizers):

Not applicable for this lesson

I will evaluate the lesson using the following rubric:

Story Writing : Interactive Writing Activity

Teacher Name: Mrs. Tyree

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Neatness	The final draft of the story is readable, clean, neat and attractive. It is free of erasures and crossed-out words. It looks like the author took great pride in it.	The final draft of the story is readable, neat and attractive. It may have one or two erasures, but they are not distracting. It looks like the author took some pride in it.	The final draft of the story is readable and some of the pages are attractive. It looks like parts of it might have been done in a hurry.	The final draft is not neat or attractive. It looks like the student just wanted to get it done and didn't care what it looked like.
Organization	The story is very well organized. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions.	The story is pretty well organized. One idea or scene may seem out of place. Clear transitions are used.	The story is a little hard to follow. The transitions are sometimes not clear.	Ideas and scenes seem to be randomly arranged.
Spelling and Punctuation	There are no spelling or punctuation errors in the final draft. Character and place names that the author invented are spelled consistently throughout.	There is one spelling or punctuation error in the final draft.	There are 2-3 spelling and punctuation errors in the final draft.	The final draft has more than 3 spelling and punctuation errors.
Creativity	The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has really used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions, but they distract from the story. The author has tried to use his imagination.	There is little evidence of creativity in the story. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.

Literature Connection: The Wild West by Tim Wood

The students will be doing a jigsaw and read the book “The Wild West” by Tim Wood. First I will divide the students into 5 groups of 4 students in each group. Each group will be responsible for reading the chapter that is provided from them (about 2 pages including pictures). The pages will be photocopied for each member of the group. I will include a highlighter and pencil for each student. The chapters are: Pioneer Immigrants, Native Americans, Gold!, Wagons Trains and Town Life from the book. After reading the chapter together, the students in the group will be responsible for creating a mini presentation and presenting it to the whole class. Each member in the group will have a role: note-taker, presenter (for whole group presentation), illustrator (a quick sketch of ideas being presented), and leader.

I will give the students about 30-40 minutes to read the chapter, summarize the important pieces of information, draw a sketch, and practice their presentations. Each presentation will last 3-5 minutes. After each group does their presentation I will have the students assess each other, since this is a cooperative group activity. The students will assess the group member who is sitting to the right of them, I will remind them to be impartial and fair (not grade them more fairly if they are your friend, etc). Each student will complete one evaluation. The assessment rubric is provided. I will look at the rubrics and consider using it on their Social Behavior grade on report cards.

Collaborative Work Skills: Jigsaw-The Wild West

Teacher Name: Mrs. Tyree

Student You Are Evaluating: ________________________________________
Your Name: __________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Contributions	Routinely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A definite leader who contributes a lot of effort.	Usually provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A strong group member who tries hard!	Sometimes provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A satisfactory group member who does what is required.	Rarely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. May refuse to participate.
Quality of Work	Provides work of the highest quality.	Provides high quality work.	Provides work that occasionally needs to be checked/redone by other group members to ensure quality.	Provides work that usually needs to be checked/redone by others to ensure quality.
Focus on the task	Consistently stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very self-directed.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time. Other group members can count on this person.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done some of the time. Other group members must sometimes nag, prod, and remind to keep this person on-task.	Rarely focuses on the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.
Working with Others	Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Tries to keep people working well together.	Usually listens to, shares, with, and supports the efforts of others. Does not cause "waves" in the group.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others, but sometimes is not a good team member.	Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Often is not a good team player.
Attitude	Never is publicly critical of the project or the work of others. Always has a positive attitude about the task(s).	Rarely is publicly critical of the project or the work of others. Often has a positive attitude about the task(s).	Occasionally is publicly critical of the project or the work of other members of the group. Usually has a positive attitude about the task(s).	Often is publicly critical of the project or the work of other members of the group. Often has a negative attitude about the task(s).

Foldable

The students will create a foldable regarding emigrant travel to the West from 1840-1860. Colored paper, markers, and scissors will be provided to each student. The teacher will show the students how to fold their papers and cut correctly. A model foldable will be provided to each table. The teacher will tell the students what to write in each box and the numbers under the flaps will be written on the board. The students will compare dates pre and post the gold rush. The teacher will allow the students 30 minutes to complete their foldable.

After the students are done making their foldable, they will write a 4-5 sentence paragraph explaining why there was such a huge jump of emigrants after the gold rush. They will explain what it might have been like if they were a miner traveling to California to strike it rich. The students will have 40 minutes to complete the writing portion of the assignment.

The purpose of the foldable will be to teach the students about the huge wave of emigrants who came west after the gold rush. The students will be able to compare and contrast the data that they get from their foldables. Also, the purpose is for the students to think and write tangibly about what it would have been like to travel west if they were a miner. The purpose of the writing activity is to invoke thinking and creativity.

Story Writing: Emigrants Moving West 1840-1860

Teacher Name: Mrs. Tyree
Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Focus on Assigned Topic	The entire story is related to the assigned topic and allows the reader to understand much more about the topic.	Most of the story is related to the assigned topic. The story wanders off at one point, but the reader can still learn something about the topic.	Some of the story is related to the assigned topic, but a reader does not learn much about the topic.	No attempt has been made to relate the story to the assigned topic.
Creativity	The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has really used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions, but they distract from the story. The author has tried to use his imagination.	There is little evidence of creativity in the story. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.
Organization	The story is very well organized. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions.	The story is pretty well organized. One idea or scene may seem out of place. Clear transitions are used.	The story is a little hard to follow. The transitions are sometimes not clear.	Ideas and scenes seem to be randomly arranged.

Internet/Technology: Donner Party

Option 1:
I created a list of 10 student friendly internet sites which include pictures of the Donner Party and where they traveled in 1846-1847. I used the site: ikeepbookmarks.com. The account name is: Grace Warner and the password is: school. You may log in under my account and see the pictures pertaining to the Donner Party. There are two folders, go under the Donner Party folder.
These sites include pictures pertaining to the travels of the Donner Party. Rather than picking one website to do an activity on, I will incorporate all of the websites into one activity that will lead to a whole group lesson after the students do some brainstorming.

URLs and explanation of contents:

1) Trail of the Donner Party from Missouri to California:

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/DonnerPartyMap.jpg

2) Tamsen Donner and her two girls:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWdonnerfamily.jpg

3) A picture of Donner Lake:

http://www.tahoedonnerhomes.com/photos/21079139796360donner_lake.jpg

4) Reed Family:

http://www.usnews.com/dbimages/master/3686/FE_DA_080221donner.jpg

5) A Wagon that was similar to the one the Donner Party traveled in:

http://images.quickblogcast.com/111663-104315/conestoga_wagon.bmp

6) A picture of the Donner Party trying to fight a terrible snowstorm:

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/DonnerPartyStorm.jpg

7) A picture of Donner Pass:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Donner_Pass_kingp053.jpg

8) Another picture of the Donner Party trying to survive in the snow:

http://brochtrupandcarey.com/DP_Summit_climb.jpg

9) The Statue which is in Truckee, CA right outside of the Museum:

http://tahoeculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/donner-party.JPG

10) A Picture of the Wagon Train and some advice from Virginia Donner:

http://www.elkorose.com/hastings/donnermenu.gif

How I would use this in the classroom:
I would use this with my 3rd graders as an introduction to the Donner Party and a brainstorming activity. I would take my students to the computer lab and have them go to ikeepbookmarks.com. Then I would have them type in the username and password. I would tell them to go to the Donner Party folder and give them about 10-15 minutes to look at all of the pictures pertaining to the Donner Party.

After they are done with that, I would have them go back to the classroom and brainstorm their ideas and thoughts about the pictures silently for about 10 minutes. When they are done working by themselves, they will share their ideas with their group members for about 5-10 minutes. Each group will share with the class what they think the pictures represent and how it pertains to the area we live in.

After the groups are done sharing, I will go into an overview of the Donner Party. I will talk about where they started from, why they were coming to California, how they passed right through Reno and got caught in the snow in Truckee. I will be sure to show them the picture of the statue in Truckee and how high the snow was that year.

I think the lesson will be a good introduction to the local history in our area. This lesson will be particularly good for visual learners with all of the pictures involved in the lesson.

Art Piece/Writing

I found a picture of a Paiute basket that works well with my unit. I included a picture of the basket and the url.

http://genequintana.com/images/catalog/large/lg_paiute_basket_cain.jpg

To do this project I would take the picture that I have to Kinko’s and blow it up to poster size; I would have one color copy, and one black and white copy. I would laminate both copies. Then, I would cut up the black and white poster into equal grids of about 4x5 since I usually have about 20 students in my class. I would pass out baggies to each student including chalk, q-tips, and cotton balls. I would give one of the square grids to a student along with a black piece of paper and the baggie. Then, I will show the students an example of how they are going to re-create the laminated square into their own creation. I will give the students about 25 minutes to complete the project. When we are done, I will call the students up one by one to tape their pieces on the mosaic. Each laminated piece will have an arrow and a number which corresponds with where it will go on the mosaic. I will hang the colored poster next to the one we made so we can compare and contrast the two posters.

Then I will ask the students what the image is (an Indian basket). As a class, we will talk about the Paiute Indians who used to live near Pyramid Lake and how they lived. We will talk about how the Native Americans used the baskets, what type of food they wore, and how they dressed. We will also talk about Chief Truckee, Sarah Winnemucca and their relationship with the early pioneers and wagon trails.

Then, I will have the students write about the image for about 30 minutes. I will ask them to write about the possible uses of the basket and how and what they were made of. I will remind them to use their best handwriting, grammar, spelling, and ideas because it will be graded with a rubric. When the papers are done, I will place them around the mosaic we created on a bulletin board. I would evaluate student learning with their writing and grade the writing using the rubric.

Story Writing : Mosaic Poster and Writing Assignment

Teacher Name: Mrs. Tyree

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Neatness	The final draft of the story is readable, clean, neat and attractive. It is free of erasures and crossed-out words. It looks like the author took great pride in it.	The final draft of the story is readable, neat and attractive. It may have one or two erasures, but they are not distracting. It looks like the author took some pride in it.	The final draft of the story is readable and some of the pages are attractive. It looks like parts of it might have been done in a hurry.	The final draft is not neat or attractive. It looks like the student just wanted to get it done and didn't care what it looked like.
Focus on Assigned Topic	The entire story is related to the assigned topic and allows the reader to understand much more about the topic.	Most of the story is related to the assigned topic. The story wanders off at one point, but the reader can still learn something about the topic.	Some of the story is related to the assigned topic, but a reader does not learn much about the topic.	No attempt has been made to relate the story to the assigned topic.
Organization	The story is very well organized. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions.	The story is pretty well organized. One idea or scene may seem out of place. Clear transitions are used.	The story is a little hard to follow. The transitions are sometimes not clear.	Ideas and scenes seem to be randomly arranged.
Spelling and Punctuation	There are no spelling or punctuation errors in the final draft. Character and place names that the author invented are spelled consistently throughout.	There is one spelling or punctuation error in the final draft.	There are 2-3 spelling and punctuation errors in the final draft.	The final draft has more than 3 spelling and punctuation errors.
Creativity	The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has really used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions, but they distract from the story. The author has tried to use his imagination.	There is little evidence of creativity in the story. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.
Accuracy of Facts	All facts presented in the story are accurate.	Almost all facts presented in the story are accurate.	Most facts presented in the story are accurate (at least 70%).	There are several factual errors in the story.

Student Project: Poster

I would have my students do a poster assignment about what they learned about the Westward Movement of Pioneers. I would give the students 3 weeks from the day I told them about the assignment to complete it. The students would share their projects with the class after they are completed. The students could do their project on the Donner Party, or other pioneers we learned about in the unit. The first day I explain the project, I would give the students some time to brainstorm ideas about what they would want to do. During computer time I would let the students research their topic since many don’t have access to computers at home. In my classroom I have encyclopedias that the students would be able to use for their poster projects. I would probably commit at least an hour of class time each week to help the student with their projects.

I would include a paper about the assessment so the students know the requirements and expectations (on the next page). I would use a rubric to grade the poster project which is also attached.

Final Project: Westward Movement
Poster Project

Student’s Job: You will be creating a poster about the Westward Movement. You can include information about the Donner Party or other pioneers who came west. You should include what life was life on the wagon train, the food they ate, and the route they traveled.

Materials Needed:
Posterboard
Markers
Glitter
Glue
Construction Paper
Pictures from the internet or books about your topic

The Poster will include:

Information about Pioneers who headed West
Timeframe of when they traveled
Their living condition
Food they ate
Pictures
Troubles they had on the wagon trail
Route they traveled

The projects will be due Monday, October 12, 2009. You will be sharing your posters with the class and we will have a small party with popcorn and punch the celebrate all that we have learned about pioneers moving Westward.

Making A Poster : Westward Movement

Teacher Name: Mrs. Tyree

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Graphics - Originality	Several of the graphics used on the poster reflect a exceptional degree of student creativity in their creation and/or display.	One or two of the graphics used on the poster reflect student creativity in their creation and/or display.	The graphics are made by the student, but are based on the designs or ideas of others.	No graphics made by the student are included.
Required Elements	The poster includes all required elements as well as additional information.	All required elements are included on the poster.	All but 1 of the required elements are included on the poster.	Several required elements were missing.
Knowledge Gained	Student can accurately answer all questions related to facts in the poster and processes used to create the poster.	Student can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the poster and processes used to create the poster.	Student can accurately answer about 75% of questions related to facts in the poster and processes used to create the poster.	Student appears to have insufficient knowledge about the facts or processes used in the poster.
Content - Accuracy	At least 7 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	5-6 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	3-4 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	Less than 3 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.
Attractiveness	The poster is exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness.	The poster is attractive in terms of design, layout and neatness.	The poster is acceptably attractive though it may be a bit messy.	The poster is distractingly messy or very poorly designed. It is not attractive.

Bibliography

Overland Emigration to Oregon, California, Utah 1840-1860. Taken from The Plain Across by John D. Unruh Jr. pages 119 and 120 (handout provided during lecture)

Wood, Tim. The Wild West. New York: Viking, 1998.

Freedman, Russell. Children of the Wild West. New York: Clarion, 1983.

Student project url (Wagon Train) http://pdblogs.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/wagon-train.jpg

Background-Manifest Destiny: wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny